Foundation.



E. FRANKIGNOUL.

FOUNDATION. APPLIOATIOK FILED MAY31, 1911;

Patented Dec. 31, 1912.

INVENTOR Fmnk WITNESSES Edg BY 3? l A ORNEYS EDGARD FRANKIGNOUL, F LIEGE, BELGIUM.

FOUNDATION.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 31, 1912.

Application filed May 31, 1911. Serial Ifil'o. 630,323.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDGARD FRANKIGNOUL, manufacturer, a subject of the Kingdom of Belgium, residing at 196 Rue Gretry, Liege,

Bel 'um, have invented certain new and useful mprovements in or Pertaining to Foundations; and I do hereby declare the following to bee. full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to -make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to letters or figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to the making of the foundations of buildings and structures (hereinafter referred to as buildings) in such a manner as to enable the verticality or horizontality of the buildings to be quickly and easily restored, should they be interfered with by movements of the ground due, for example, to mining operations. For this purpose according to this invention a building is supported by a mass of sand inclosed in a basin. When the ground subsides at some'part of the basin, the basin and the sand thereof yield and allow the building to subside at the place in question. To reestablish the verticality or the horizontalit of the building the other portions of the iiiundation are lowered by removing a portion of the sand from the basin at other parts of the basin, where the sand has not subsided.

The invention is illustrated in -the accompanying drawing, forming a part of this specification and in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in both views.

40 Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of-the improvement; and Fig. 2 is a similar view of a modification.

Referring to Fig. 1 the bottom 'of the basin may be a floor of masonry or of concrete; or it may, as in the example shown,

be composed of concrete pillars 1 or wooden iles. The sides of the basin are formed y a wall 2. As is obvious, the horizontalsection of the basin depends on the hori- BO zontal section of the building 3 to be constructed on the sand 4 therein. Outside .the wall 2 there are provided, .at suitable distances apart around the basin, chambers 5. Between the interior of each chamber 5 and the interior of the basin there is a passage 6, whichjs normally closed by a plug 7.

If, for example, the ground subsides at A, the building will tend to incline toward the right hand, as seen in the drawing. To restore the verticality of the building it will sufiice to open one or more of the passages 6 at the left hand side and to allow a portion of the sand on the left hand side of the .basinto pass out through the passage or passages so as to lower the building 3 on the left hand side.

It is obvious that the removal of the sand may be efi'ected by allowing the sand to be forced through the passage or passages 6 by the pressure due to theweight of the building 3. The escape ofthe sand may, however, be assisted by means of metal rods introduced through the passages 6.

In Fig. 2 the construction is similar to that shown in Fig. 1 except that instead of closing the openings ofthe basin by a lug, a cock 8 is employed. By means of the cocks Water may be admitted to first loosen the sand and then the sand removed through said cocks.

In most cases it will be possible to dispense with the arran ement of chambers such as 5 around the basin. In that case, to cause a portion of the sand to pass out from one side of the basin, a hole will be dug in the ground so as to give access to the passage 6; after withdrawin a suflicient quantity of the sand and recloslng the corresponding passage 6, the hole thus made will be filled u i The herein described method of making foundations is ap licable to all buildings and structures to to movement for example, as the result of mining operations, underground working, or the like; it is specially intended for buildings which should, owing to their purpose,

preserve a perfect verticality, as is the case with the walls of gasometers, towers, fountains, engine-rooms, furnaces, and the like.

Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim is The method herein described of supporting and leveling buildin consisting in providing an inclosure aving normally closed outlets in its side walls, filling the built on ground liable inclosure with fine sandl, placing the build- I as my invention, I have signed my name ing upon the sand in the inelosure, openin presence of two subscribing witnesses. mg the outlets ofthe lnclosure, and removing a portion of the send through said out- EDGARD FRANKIGNOUL' 5 lets to compensate for the settling of the Witnesses:

building. LEONARD LEVER,

In testimony that I claim the foregoing ALEX LoLLENWANn. 

